The general whose reputation has been forged in the crucible of Iraq does not look like a military figure.
By David Blair Last Updated: 11:31PM BST 12 Sep 2008
When a new strategy in Iraq was required, Gen Petraeus was the obvious manPhoto: AFP
David Petraeus is a spry and youthful 55-year-old, of medium height and build. Perhaps because of two accidents in his army career – he was shot in the chest during an exercise and smashed his pelvis in a parachute jump – he has a slight stoop and a barely perceptible air of physical awkwardness. Instead of the ramrod bearing of a MacArthur, Gen Petraeus resembles a modest headmaster, albeit one with a personal fitness obsession. This outgoing yet scholarly figure is now the brightest star of America’s armed forces. Gen Petraeus has emerged from the bloodshed of Baghdad to become the only genuinely successful general of the “war on terrorism”. No other commander in this campaign, which has lasted exactly seven years, would have reached the cover of Time magazine as “Man of the Year” in 2007. If every war eventually makes a military reputation and propels a uniformed figure to global fame, then Gen Petraeus is the Eisenhower of our time. When he hands over his command in Iraq on Tuesday, he will have achieved a seemingly impossible goal. Gen Petraeus will leave the country in infinitely better shape than found it. The West’s enemies – from “al-Qaeda in Iraq” to the Shia gunmen of Moqtada al-Sadr – are greatly weakened. Is this achievement genuine – or was Gen Petraeus simply lucky enough to take over at the right time? And if his accomplishment is real, how has he done it? Luck has smiled on Gen Petraeus to the extent that he has always seemed to be in the right place to learn the lessons of earlier failures. He graduated from West Point in 1970, just in time to imbibe the hard messages of Vietnam without being personally scarred by the war. This led him into a detailed study of counter-insurgency warfare, a subject that became his consuming interest. In 1987, he went to Princeton and produced a 328-page thesis on the impact of Vietnam on America’s high command. Fast forward to March 2003 and the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Gen Petraeus was in command of a spearhead unit – the 101st Airborne Division – and found himself in control of the Shia holy city of Najaf. He had no particular wish to run the place, but amid the breakdown of law and order unleashed by the war, he could not find a civilian mayor to take over. He was in the right place to grasp the central mistake of his high command: the invasion had decapitated Iraq’s leadership without deploying enough troops to secure the country and prevent its spiral into chaos. Gen Petraeus completed another tour of duty in Iraq in 2004/5, when he was in charge of training the new army and police force. These units were America’s “exit ticket” from Iraq, in line with President Bush’s statement that “we will stand down as the Iraqis stand up”. But Gen Petraeus was later criticised for over-optimism and for greatly overestimating the abilities of the newly trained formations. Many were infiltrated by militias and proved unreliable in battle. Once again, he was in an ideal position to learn some hard lessons: declarations of victory must be avoided and American soldiers would not be able to hand over to their Iraqi counterparts in the near future. Instead, they would have to stay for longer than he once thought. After this tour, Gen Petraeus returned to America and wrote what was to become the book on counter-insurgency warfare. Together with a Marine Corps general, he produced the US military’s first field manual on this vital subject for 20 years. The 282 pages are a tersely written, closely argued set of instructions on how to win supposedly unwinnable wars. Drawing on a host of historical lessons – from Vietnam to Lawrence of Arabia’s campaign against the Turks – the book could be read as a manual on how to rescue the situation in Iraq. The central insight was that protecting civilians was the sine qua non for beating insurgents. If people felt safer, they would back the security forces and turn against the gunmen. But this required far more troops than were in Iraq at that time. Most importantly, it also required those forces to live among the population and fight in a completely different way. Once again, Gen Petraeus was in the right place at the right time. Just as he became the army’s acknowledged expert on counter-insurgency warfare – and the author of an unofficial manifesto for winning in Iraq – President Bush was casting around for a new strategy. After the bombing of a Shia shrine in Samara in February 2006, the bloodshed had escalated to become a sectarian civil war. By the summer, a wave of attacks was killing 2,500 civilians a month. Mr Bush lost confidence in his military leaders and ordered his civilian advisers to launch a comprehensive policy review. They came up with two key recommendations: send a “surge” of another 30,000 troops to Iraq and adopt the new doctrine of counter-insurgency warfare. America’s service chiefs were unanimously opposed to the “surge”. They feared the strain on the military machine and gave warning that too few troops would be left to cope with emergencies elsewhere. But in January last year, Mr Bush overrode his key generals and announced that another five army brigades and 4,000 Marines – almost 30,000 troops in total – would go to Iraq. The new units would be concentrated in Baghdad, where force levels would rise from 17,000 to 40,000. A new strategy required a new commander, and Gen Petraeus was the obvious man. “Population security” was the best way of summing up his goal when he arrived in Baghdad in February 2007. In a message to his troops, he described safe neighbourhoods as the “overriding objective of our strategy”. “We can’t commute to the fight in counter-insurgency operations; rather we have to live with the population we are securing.” Gen Petraeus called on his soldiers to “embrace the warrior-builder-diplomat spirit”. The troops were duly deployed in the streets and suburbs of Baghdad, usually alongside Iraqi forces. Meanwhile, a crucial development helped transform the situation. The Sunni tribes of Anbar, Iraq’s largest province covering a huge area stretching from Baghdad’s western approaches to the border with Jordan, began turning against the gunmen. Anbar had once been the heartland of the Sunni insurgency. But the fighters were so brutal that they drove their supporters away. “Al-Qaeda in Iraq” was especially vicious. They took to severing the fingers of smokers on the grounds that they were supposedly breaking Islam’s prohibition on narcotics. Gen Petraeus saw his chance to divide the gunmen from the population – the central goal of counter-insurgency warfare. He paid the Sunni tribes to form self-defence militias, which turned on the insurgents to devastating effect. This combination of a popular “awakening” and the tactics of “surge” began to pay dividends. Violence fell throughout 2007 and into 2008. Last month, there was an average of 20 daily attacks on US troops, compared with 180 in June 2007. In July, 13 American soldiers were killed, compared with 126 in May last year. Some 500 Iraqi civilians still die a month – but in 2006 the monthly toll often exceeded 2,000. How much of this was down to Gen Petraeus? Critics point out that the Sunni “awakening” would probably have happened anyway. “I don’t think anyone can say that Petraeus stabilised Iraq,” said Prof Gareth Stansfield, from the Middle East programme at the Chatham House think tank. “His move to develop the surge came at the same time as other developments in Iraq, including the conflict between Sunni and Shia beginning to run out of steam and various political agreements coming to fruition.” True to his talent for being in the right place at the right time, Gen Petraeus may have arrived in Iraq at exactly the moment when the insurgency was burning itself out. But there seems little doubt that the “surge” and his new tactics were the key enablers, reinforcing and driving the positive trends. The man has carefully shielded himself against the doubters. Gen Petraeus has always agreed that other factors were “at least as important, perhaps more important”, than the “surge” itself. He will take this cautious wisdom to his next job as head of Central Command, where he will have responsibility for all the many fronts of the “war on terrorism”, ranging from Afghanistan and Pakistan to Iraq and Somalia. And unlike Eisenhower, you can be sure that Gen Petraeus will be careful never to declare victory.
Gen James Conway - 27 August 2008 Commandant of the Marine Corps Gen James Conway hosts a media roundtable on Marine Corps issues and programs.
Freedom Watch Afghanistan - 27 August 2008 The latest from Operation Enduring Freedom showing the activities of American troops in country. Produced by AFN-Afghanistan.
Freedom Journal Iraq - 27 August 2008 A daily news program produced by American Forces Network Iraq. The program focuses on military missions, operations and U.S. military forces in Iraq.
THE WAR ON THE TERRORISTS OF QOM IS GETTING NEAR - GET READY FOR THE NEXT PHASE OF THE WAR ON THE IRI - THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IDIOTS !
Iraq Rebels 'Get Extra aid From Iran' April 20, 2008 The Australian From Correspondents in Baghdad
A US general said today the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by Shiite extremists in Iraq were evidence they were getting extra aid from Iranian groups in the country.Major General Rick Lynch, commander of US forces in central Iraq, said rocket and mortar attacks by Shiite extremists were "more effective than before".This, he said, indicated a rise in Iranian help to the militants."We are seeing an increase in (Iranian) influence ... the number of attacks that are directly attributed to Iranian influence have indeed increased," Maj-Gen Lynch said."The number of EFP (explosively formed penetrator) attacks have increased, the number of Iranian rocket attacks have indeed increased, the amount of Iranian weapons I am finding on the battlefield has increased. The amount of Shiite extremists who tie their training back to Iran have indeed increased."Maj-Gen Lynch, whose area of operation in Iraq has a long stretch of border with Iran, also said his troops have found large numbers of caches of weapons and ammunition bearing Iranian markings.Citing a recent example, the general said his troops found in one place "enough components for 1100 EFPs directly traceable back to Iran".Iran denies supplying ammunition to insurgents, or training them.Maj-Gen Lynch said previous rocket attacks were "ineffective... now there is a difference. Now they have sophisticated launch systems".The US military said about 600 rockets or mortar rounds were fired by Shiite extremists at Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone between March 23 and April 12.Many of them had Iranian markings on them, it said.Maj-Gen Lynch, who commands US forces in the Shiite provinces of Babil, Karbala, Najaf and Wasit, said that in recent weeks his troops had detained 25 extremists trained in Iran or by Iranian-linked groups in Iraq.During interrogation "they say we were trained in Iran or we were trained by Iranians in Iraq or we were trained by Iraqi surrogates who had been trained in Iran who have come back and trained us," the General said."So it just continues to highlight what we are experiencing, which is particularly troublesome Iranian influence in our area that's resulted in casualties of the Iraqi people, the Iraqi security forces and coalition forces."Maj-Gen Lynch said there was a "marked" Iranian influence, adding that several of the 146 US troops from his command who had been killed succumbed to "Iranian munition"."You know I have lost 146 soldiers, mainly those who were killed by Iranian munitions - either by Iranian rockets or by Iranian explosively formed penetrators - all of which are directly traceable to Iran," he said.Maj-Gen Lynch and his troops were deployed south of Baghdad in April 2007 as part of the "surge" to curb the raging bloodshed across Iraq.
Afghan, Iranian Forces Trade Gunfire on Southwester Border : April 20, 2008 The Associated Press Fox News
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan police clashed with Iranian forces at the southwestern border between the two countries, leaving one civilian dead and two Iranian officers wounded, officials said Sunday.The incident in the village of Pul-e-Abreshum in Nimroz province happened Saturday after an Iranian patrol entered Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.Afghan police dispatched a unit to the village and a gunbattle ensued. A teacher from the village was killed during the firefight, said provincial police chief Gen. Ayub Badakhshi.Two Iranian officers were wounded, the statement said. The long and porous border between the two countries is used by smugglers to traffic drugs into Iran. Many Afghans also cross illegally into Iran from the area. Border clashes are common. ALSO : Afghan, Iran guards in deadly clash over land 43 minutes ago An Afghan teacher was killed in a clash between Afghan and Iranian border guards over a small piece of land on the frontier, Afghanistan's interior ministry said.Two Iranian guards were also wounded in the clash Saturday, it said, adding the fighting started after Iranian border security forces entered the western province of Nimroz. "An Afghan civilian who was a teacher was killed in a clash between Afghan and Iranian border guards. The fighting took place after the Iranians entered and claimed a piece of land," the ministry said in a statement.It did not say how much land the Iranians had claimed except that it was not large and added that the Afghan owner, who was using it for farming, had documents proving his ownership.The Afghan troops sealed off the area and forced their Iranian counterparts to "escape," the ministry said.The Iranians had left behind a vehicle which was returned to them, it said.The long border between the two countries is porous and difficult to police. It has seen clashes before, sometimes related to the trafficking of Afghanistan's mammoth drugs production across the frontier.
Rice blasts cleric's strategy in Baghdad visit By By Anne Gearan, Associated Press - Monday, April 21, 2008
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice characterized militant Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as being a coward hiding in Iran on Sunday, hours after the radical leader threatened to declare war unless U.S. and Iraqi forces end a military crackdown on his followers.Rice, in the Iraqi capital to address security gains and what she calls an emerging political consensus, said al-Sadr is content to issue threats and edicts from the safety of Iran, where he is studying.Al-Sadr heads an unruly militia that was the main target of an Iraqi government assault in the oil-rich city of Basra last month, and his future role as a spoiler is an open question."I know he's sitting in Iran," Rice said, when asked about al-Sadr's latest threat to lift a self-imposed cease-fire with government and U.S. forces. "I guess it's all-out war for anybody but him. I guess that's the message: His followers can go to their deaths, and he's in Iran."In a statement on his official Web site, al-Sadr said, "We denounce the visit of U.S. secretary, asking the government to ban the entrance of the terrorists' occupiers to our pure land."The statement asked Iraqis to express their opposition to the visit through peaceful means.A full-blown uprising by al-Sadr, who led two rebellions against U.S.-led forces in 2004, could lead to a dramatic increase in violence in Iraq at a time when the Sunni extremist group al-Qaida in Iraq appears poised for new attacks after suffering severe blows last year.In a posting Saturday on his Web site, al-Sadr said he tried to defuse tensions by declaring the truce last August, only to see the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki respond by closing his offices and "resorting to assassinations."He said government sold out to the Americans and branded his followers as "criminals."
March 31, 2008 -- IT was bound to happen and may well be happening right now: a war between the Islamic Republic in Iran and the new Iraq. Much of the media have portrayed the latest battles for Basra, and attempts by armed groups to undermine the recently improved security in Baghdad, as a power struggle among rival Shiite factions. In this analysis, three Shiite factions - the Fadila (Virtue), the Dawa (The Call) and the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq - that support Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition government are trying to disarm the remnants of the Mahdi Army of the elusive mullah Muqtada Sadr. But that explanation has several problems. To start with, it is the regular Iraqi army - not any Shiite armed faction - that is doing the fighting in Basra. To underline that point, Maliki went to Basra to supervise operations personally. And the kind of fighting witnessed in Basra is different from the usual militia operations. This is a war of position, with units acting as detachments of a regular army trying to deny the Iraqi government forces control of specific territories. The fighters defying the Iraqi army may be Iraqi irregulars, even nominal members of the Mahdi Army - but those leading them are acting as textbook regular-army commanders. At least some of the officers in charge of the rebel units may be seconded from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as part of a broader plan to control the Basra region, and thus the lifeline of the Iraqi economy. This wouldn't be the first time that Guard officers and NCOs have fought at the head of native fighters outside Iran. Two years ago, Guard personnel played a crucial role in the war between the Lebanese Hezbollah and Israel. And Guard officers and NCOs led some armed Iraqi groups in operations against Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s. The type of weapons used in both Basra and Baghdad also suggests at least some outside involvement. The rebels in Basra are using a large number of armored vehicles to move men and materiel around - something no other Shiite militia, and certainly not the Mahdi Army, had ever done. They're also using heavy artillery, mobile rocket launchers and a sophisticated communications system unavailable to militias. Elements of the Mahdi Army may provide the visible face of the rebellion, but there is no evidence that the militia (supposing it even still exists as an organized force) is the sole star of this show. Sadr, after all, has extended the ceasefire he declared six months ago - and, in a recent letter, admitted that he had failed to "liberate" Iraq and create an "Islamic society." Last week, he issued another statement calling for a political settlement in Basra - a far cry from the bellicose noises made by these rebels with the help of Iranian state-owned media. Spending most of his time in Iran, Sadr is now preparing to claim a theological position within the Shiite hierarchy - an ambition that cannot be realized through gunfights in the streets of Basra and Baghdad. One other notable fact: Whoever is running the show on the rebel side has been able to devise a battle plan that included simultaneous attacks along a north-south axis that includes Baghdad, al-Amarah and Basra. No other Iraqi militia group, Shiite or Sunni, has had the resources to stage such a campaign before. The rebels are trying to retain areas that connect Basra, a vast urban sprawl, to the Shatt al-Arab, an estuary that forms part of the border between Iran and Iraq. If the Iraqi government is kept out of these areas, Iran would control both banks of the strategically vital waterway. Iran has already occupied several islands in the waterway facing Basra, using them as advance observation posts. Finally, the design of this operation recalls an Iranian plan, drafted in 1983-84, to seize control of Basra and parts of the Shiite-majority areas of southern Iraq. According to Ibrahim Yazdi, once a top adviser to the late Ayatollah Khomeini, the "Basra Plan" was devised as a compromise. The ayatollah wanted the war with Iraq to continue until the fall of Baghdad, after which he hoped his armies would march on Jerusalem. His advisers, including Yazdi, knew that Iran could not win such a war and tried to placate him by offering him Basra. Visitors to Basra since Saddam's fall have often been struck by the massive "Iranian" presence there. Much of this consists of large numbers of Iraqi Shiites, known as mua'aweddin (returnees), who have come home after years of exile in Iran. There are also those who hold both Iranian and Iraqi nationality. Known as muzdawajun (double nationals), they are often accused of being loyal to Shiism rather than any secular concept as a nation state. Why has Basra, a relatively calm place for the last five years, heated up now? One reason may be the British decision last year to withdraw from the city. This left a vacuum that the new Iraqi army and police were unable to fill immediately. Iran may have seized the opportunity to try to grab as much influence and presence as it could - both via Shiite militias (including the Mahdi Army) that it has financed for years and by sending large numbers of operatives across the border. The prospect of losing control of Basra may have prompted the Maliki government to act. Whoever controls Basra could influence the outcome of next year's crucial local-government elections. Basra and the Shiite south represent the backbone of support for the Maliki coalition; without them, the coalition couldn't retain control of the central government in Baghdad. At a time when US commanders in Iraq, including Gen. David Petraeus, openly accuse Iran of having joined the Iraqi imbroglio, the fate of Basra appears important for another reason. If there were a war between the United States and the Islamic Republic, one likely early US objective would be seizure of Iranian oilfields. To do that, America and its allies would need advance bases in southern Iraq - the key to which is Basra. Iran, on the other hand, could extend the defensive perimeter of its oilfields by annexing Basra. Both sides may simply be interested in testing the waters at this stage. But the war over who will shape the future of Iraq, indeed of the Middle East as a whole, is in its early stages.
10 Die in Mistaken Afghan Firefight : By CARLOTTA GALL and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA KABUL, Afghanistan — At least nine Afghan police officers and a civilian were killed early Thursday in a firefight between American forces and the officers in Ghazni Province, just south of the capital, local officials said. The American forces were searching houses in a village on the outskirts of Ghazni town and blew open the gates of a house, according to local Afghan officials. District police officers heard the explosion and rushed to the scene, suspecting that the Taliban were in the area, but were themselves mistaken for Taliban and shot by the American soldiers, the officials said. Aircraft supporting the operation fired on one of the police cars.
The killings set off protests in the town on Thursday afternoon, and demonstrators blocked the main highway and prevented a government delegation from reaching the town from a nearby airfield, local officials said. “Another big cruelty was made by American forces this morning,” said Khial Muhammad Hussaini, a member of Parliament from the province who was among the elders and legislators who had traveled to the town to try to calm people and persuade them to reopen the highway. Zemarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Kabul, confirmed the shooting and called it a “misunderstanding,” but said he had information on only eight deaths. The confrontation happened when United States forces were conducting a night raid on the compound of a man suspected of being an insurgent and of organizing suicide bombings, according to Maj. Chris Belcher, the spokesman for the United States military at Bagram Air Base. The soldiers were part of the United States-led coalition that conducts counterterrorism operations, not part of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, he said. The American soldiers came under fire from insurgent forces and fired back, Major Belcher said. He suggested that those killed were insurgents and said that he had no information on whether they were members of the national police. “I know there were some deaths, but I don’t have a number,” he said. The Afghan government has repeatedly requested that United States forces coordinate with local authorities and take along Afghan security forces during operations because there have been many instances in which Americans have inadvertently killed civilians or local police officers. But Mr. Hussaini, the Parliament member, said the American forces involved had not coordinated with any government authority before or during the raid. Hajji Zaher, an elder in Ghazni town, gave this account: “At 3 a.m., when the Americans were searching the houses and when they blew up the gates, the police rushed to the area thinking that they were Taliban. And at the same time the Americans thought that the police were Taliban and there was a firefight.” Habib-u Rahman, deputy chief of the Ghazni provincial council, said that nine police officers, including a district police chief, and a civilian had been killed and that four other police officers and a woman had been wounded. “After the police came under fire, the police officers got out of their vehicle, and their vehicle was shot by a rocket from the plane,” Mr. Rahman said. Eight people were detained by American soldiers, Mr. Rahman said, but two were from the provincial Education Department. In other violence on Thursday, a NATO soldier was killed and two were wounded in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, NATO said in a statement.
Iraq veterans say that war crimes are encouraged by command. news10now.com — "The killing of innocent civilians is policy," veteran Mike Blake said. "It's unit policy and it's Army policy. It's not official policy, but it's what's happens on the ground everyday. It's what unit commanders individually encourage." "These decisions are coming from the top down," veteran Matt Howard said. Watch this video -- War crimes "encouraged?" - A group of Iraq war veterans are planning a gathering in Washington D.C. in March to talk about war crimes they've seen or committed during their tours of duty.
Iranian Mines Found In Taliban Commander's House Afghanistan -- An provincial police chief says authorities have discovered a weapons cache in western Afghanistan containing 130 land mines of different types that appear to have been imported from Iran.
AND MORE FROM THE TURNCOAT , THE QUEEN OF SHEBA ! 'SHERRIN POLO'
Making Up With the Mullahs : January 26, 2008 New York Post Opinion
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made her most generous offer yet to the mad mullahs of Iran: Suspend your enrichment of uranium, halting a critical step in the development of nuclear weapons, and Washington is prepared to develop "a more normal relationship."That's it?"If Iran would suspend its uranium-enrichment and -reprocessing activities - which is an international demand, not just an American one - then we could begin negotiations, and we could work over time to build a new, more normal relationship," she told the World Economic Forum at Davos.It was as conciliatory a note as the Bush administration has ever struck on Iran.Clearly, achieving an end to Iran's quest for nuclear weapons is of paramount importance in ensuring regional stability in the Middle East.But is suspending uranium enrichment enough of a step to immediately offer the prospects of normalized relations with Tehran?We think not.Pursuit of nukes, after all, is just one of the ways in which Iran presents a danger to world peace.Even with its nuclear-weapons program on hold (according to a recent National Intelligence Estimate), Iran continues to export terrorism via surrogates like Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories.And it continues to arm and supply the anti-American terrorist insurgency (or what's left of it) in Iraq.Iran, in short, is the single most destabilizing element in the world's most dangerous region.Surely, the mullahs in Tehran can't be encouraged to think that they can get off the hook with a single gesture on their nuclear program.To be sure, Rice in her remarks stressed that Washington has "real differences" with Iran on issues like supporting terrorism.And we understand the administration's eager hope for a major diplomatic breakthrough before the president leaves office - particularly when it comes to Iran, after having been forced to pull back from its previously confrontational approach.But those "real differences" encompass far more than a currently inactive WMD program - even though that program remains a genuine threat, despite the interpretation that congressional Democrats have drawn from the recent NIE.Iran and the United States can only resume a normal relationship - broken after Islamic fundamentalists toppled the shah in 1979 - when Iran itself no longer constitutes a real threat to world peace and America's security interests.But it will take more than a suspension of uranium enrichment for that to happen. Much more. Iran's New Purge Slapping the 'Moderates' : January 26, 2008 New York Post Amir Taheri Opponents of taking a tough line on Iran have always claimed that imposing sanctions (not to mention threatening military action) would strengthen the Islamic Republic's most radical elements. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice looks to have bought that argument. Last week, she agreed to water down the new sanctions that her advisers had devised against the Islamic Republic.Waving an olive branch, Rice also called for a peaceful resolution of the dispute over Tehran's illicit nuclear ambitions.Events inside Iran, however, provide a different picture. The Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, a 12-man committee of mullahs and their legal advisers, this week rejected applications from nearly 4,000 men and women to run in the March 14 general election. Nearly all the denied applicants belong to the 21 groups designated by Western observers as "reformist" opponents of the ultra-radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The list of the rejected reads like a Who's-Who of politicians regarded by many in the West as "moderates" who would put the regime on a less confrontational trajectory.It includes individuals who served under Presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Muhammad Khatami, as well as scores of former members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly (Majlis), the 290-seat ersatz parliament set up by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1980.In what looks like a massive purge, a total of 103 members of the present Majlis, all critics of Ahmadinejad, were also declared "unfit" for re-election.To be sure, the so-called reformists have never proposed any reform program as such. Rafsanjani spent most of his eight years as president building his business empire; Khatami spent his tenure traveling the world and building his image as an amateur philosopher working for "a dialogue of civilizations."More regime opponents were killed or thrown into prison under Rafsanjani and Khatami than under Ahmadinejad. And both "reformers" tried to export the Khomeinist revolution via agents and clients in many Muslim countries, especially in the Middle East.Indeed, both also used the trick of excluding opponents from electoral lists. In 2004, when Khatami was president, more than two-thirds of applicants were blacklisted.What differentiated the two men from Ahmadinejad was their penchant for taqiyeh (dissimulation) - an old trick of the mullahs who have turned speaking with a forked tongue into fine art.Ahmadinejad, by contrast, shuns taqiyeh. What is on his tongue comes from his heart. He firmly believes that his brand of Islam stands on the threshold of victory against a corrupt, weak, fat and cowardly West led by a deeply divided United States.The West's soft line so far has persuaded many Iranians that Ahmadinejad may be right after all. Far from benefiting the so-called moderates, the cuddly policy (preached by the likes of European Union foreign-policy czar Javier Solana) has strengthened the Ahmadinejad-led radicals. After all, the man is thumbing his nose at all the great powers and superpowers - and getting away with it. Why abandon a winner and side with people who've always looked like losers?Having captured the presidency and the Council of Ministers that goes with it, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is now determined to storm other centers of power, starting with the Majlis. It has put one of its own, Gen. Reza Afshar, in charge of organizing the elections, with other Guard officers heading elector- al commissions across the country."Until recently they just wanted a majority," says Nasser Abdallahzade, one of the rejected hopefuls. "Now they want every single seat."Even then, Ahmadinejad has taken care to reduce the powers of the Majlis. In a letter published last week, he told the speaker of the Majlis that the ersatz parliament has no authority to force the government to change its policies. That is, that it's there simply to rubber-stamp the executive's every decision.The speaker, Ghulam-Ali Haddad-Adel, found the letter so insulting that he complained to his father-in-law, "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei. After several days of hesitation, Khamenei responded with a letter that sounded like a mild rebuke for Ahmadinejad and a vague assertion of the rights of the Majlis.But even that was too much for Ahmadinejad, who responded by saying that such epistolary exercises wouldn't affect his government. "The government will continue doing what is best for Islam," he asserted.What will the so-called moderates and reformists do now that they have little chance of gaining a foothold in the Majlis? The decent response would be a boycott of an exercise that no longer has any real sense. Why vote in an election, when the winners have already been chosen in the shady corridors of power?The trouble is that the "moderates" and "reformists" of the Khomeinist camp lack the courage of their pretensions. They resemble the happy cuckold who remains faithful to his marriage bond under all circumstances.This is how Muhammad-Reza Aref, a former "first assistant president" under Khatami and now the principal spokesman of the "reformists" has reacted to his own blacklisting and that of virtually all his associates: "We might decide not to field any candidates," he said. "But we shall not call for a boycott of the elections, because we do not wish to harm the regime. We want the people to vote knowing that we have no candidates. In this way, everyone would know that we are not responsible for things. We will protest, but won't make a big noise."Aref, Rafsanjani, Khatami: These are the guys that Rice, hoodwinked by her advisers, seems to be banking on to bring the Islamic Republic back to reason. With enemies like that, Ahmadinejad needs no friends.
WASHINGTON — The top two American intelligence officials traveled secretly to Pakistan early this month to press President Pervez Musharraf to allow the Central Intelligence Agency greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups are all active, according to several officials who have been briefed on the visit. But in the unannounced meetings on Jan. 9 with the two American officials — Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, and Gen. Michael V. Hayden, the C.I.A. director — Mr. Musharraf rebuffed proposals to expand any American combat presence in Pakistan, either through unilateral covert C.I.A. missions or by joint operations with Pakistani security forces. Instead, Pakistan and the United States are discussing a series of other joint efforts, including increasing the number and scope of missions by armed Predator surveillance aircraft over the tribal areas, and identifying ways that the United States can speed information about people suspected of being militants to Pakistani security forces, officials said. American and Pakistani officials have questioned each other in recent months about the quality and time lines of information that the United States has given to Pakistan to use in focusing on those extremists. American officials have complained that the Pakistanis are not seriously pursuing Al Qaeda in the region. READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE : http://tinyurl.com/328k3f
9/11 Truth Is Not A PRIVATE CLUB . . . Or Is It? WATCH THIS VIDEO _ Enlargen 9/11 Truth is Not a PRIVATE CLUB . . . Or Is It? I was reading a 9/11 truth blog for an organization up north, and saw something that kind of shocked me. The poster was talking about the new 9/11 truth telling novel, "The Shell Game" from NY Times best selling author, Steve Alten, and whether we should trust him "because he's new." Hit me in the head with a sledgehammer if I'm wrong . . . but weren't we all out in the s
Story Highlights : U.S. military says January increase in bombs believed linked to Iran - Devices are known as EFPs (explosively formed penetrators) - Gen. Petraeus: EFPs increased by a factor of two or three over last 10 days - Bush administration, military say Iran arming, training Iraqi insurgents - Read
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait (CNN) -- Attacks against U.S. troops in Iraq with bombs believed linked to Iran -- known as explosively formed penetrators (EFPs) -- have risen sharply in January after several months of decline, according to the top U.S. commander in Iraq. Explosively formed penetrators are more sophisticated and deadlier than typical improvised explosive devices. Iraqi and U.S. officials indicated just a month ago that Iran was using its influence to improve security in Iraq by restraining cross-border weapons flow and militia activity. The U.S. military had said in recent months that the number of EFP attacks had gone down. Gen. David Petraeus disclosed the reversal to reporters after a meeting with President Bush who was visiting troops in Kuwait. "In this year, EFPs have gone up, actually, over the last 10 days by a factor of two or three, and frankly we're trying to determine why that might be," Petraeus said. Petraeus did not say how many American troops have been killed or wounded by EFPs in recent days. The U.S. military announced nine troop deaths from bombings in the first 11 days of January, but the death announcements did not specify if EFPs were involved. EFPs are more sophisticated and deadlier than the typical improvised explosive devices (IED) used by insurgents as roadside bombs to attack convoys and foot patrols until last year. EFPs use components manufactured in Iran and militants are trained in Iran to use them, the U.S. military has said.President Bush, in remarks to reporters in Kuwait, said: "Iran must stop supporting the militia special groups that attack Iraqi and coalition forces, and kidnap and kill Iraqi officials."The Bush administration and the military have long maintained that Iranian agents, particularly the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps -- have been arming and training Iraqi insurgents. E-mail to a friend
Bush Lauds Mideast Democracy, Rips Iran : President Says Iran Is Threatening Security Of World : January 13, 2008 ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates -- President George W. Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late." Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program. "Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech he delivered about mid-way through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact - an accord he said whose "time has come." "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," Bush said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late." Bush lauded democratic reforms in Gulf nations ruled by authoritarian leaders. "This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed," Bush said. Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, at an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for $2,450 a night. Built at a cost of $3 billion, the hotel is a kilometer long from end to end and has a 1.3 kilometer white sand beach -- every grain of it imported from Algeria, according to Steven Pike, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy here. Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes -- white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women.
Bush urges Iran regime to heed people's will
by Laurent Lozano
ABU DHABI (AFP) - US President George W. Bush reached out to the Iranian people Sunday in the keynote address of a Middle East tour, telling them they had a right to live under a government "that listens to your wishes". In the wide-ranging speech in the United Arab Emirates capital of Abu Dhabi, Bush hit out at the Tehran regime across the Gulf saying that it was "today the world's leading state sponsor of terror" and, with Al-Qaeda, the main threat to the region's stability. The US president also addressed Israelis and Palestinians telling the former that peace with their Arab neighbours was the best guarantee of security and the latter that they should "reject the terrorists who pose the greatest threat to a Palestinian state." The United Arab Emirates is Iran's main trading partner with up to 10,000 Iranian firms operating in its commercial hub of Dubai and Bush's intention to use the platform to speak out against the Tehran regime had been well trailed. "To the people of Iran, you're rich in culture and talent. You have the right to live under a government that listens to your wishes, respects your talents and allows you to build better lives for your families," he said."Unfortunately your government denies you these opportunities and threatens the peace and stability of your neighbours."So we call on the regime in Tehran to heed your will, and to make itself accountable to you."The day will come when the people of Iran have a government that embraces liberty and justice and Iran joins the community of free nations. When that good day comes you will have no better friend than the United States of America."The Middle East tour which Bush began in Israel on Wednesday has been overshadowed by renewed tensions with Tehran following a face-off between Iranian and US naval vessels in the entrance to the Gulf earlier this month.Washington has since repeatedly warned Tehran that its commanders are authorised to use force in self-defence if necessary and Bush has stepped up his rhetoric against the Iranian regime."Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," the US president said in Abu Dhabi."It seeks to intimidate its neighbours with missiles and bellicose rhetoric."But in an embarrassing climbown that was gleefully seized on by Tehran, the Pentagon admitted that a sound recording it had released of a voice threatening to blow up the US vessels may not have emanated from the Iranian vessels. The Navy Times reported that US naval experts now believe the threatening voice may have been that of a local heckler known as the "Filipino Monkey" who frequently interrupts ship-to-ship radio traffic with insulting interventions. Tehran accused Washington on Sunday of distorting the incident "to fool the region" during Bush's visit and called on US officials to apologise. "They tried to bring it up at the same time as Bush was travelling to the region to paint Iran in a bad light. But their plans fell flat," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.Bush also used his speech in Abu Dhabi to urge Israelis and Palestinians to have faith in the renewed peace negotiations launched in Annapolis outside Washington in November and to shun the alternative of armed struggle and war."To the Palestinian people, the dignity and sovereignty that is your right is within your reach," said Bush, who after a first visit to the Holy Land as president last week, said he is "very hopeful" a final peace deal can be reached before he leaves office in January. "Oppose the extremists and terrorists who represent the greatest threat to a Palestinian state. The United States will help you build the institutions of democracy and prosperity and make your dreams of a state come true. "To the people of Israel, you know that peace and reconciliation with your neighbours is the best path to long term security. We believe that peace is possible, though it requires tough decisions." Bush also renewed his call for reform in the Middle East pointing to the example of Japan after World War II where he said a thriving democracy had been built without affecting indigenous culture or religion, despite the strong opposition of supporters of an absolute emperor. He listed a string of Arab countries which had held elections in recent years. Even in the United Arab Emirates, indirect elections to an advisory federal council, which are the only polls to have been held so far, were the "first step in a wider reform," he said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard in secret Iraq talks with US : Marie Colvin
THE HEAD of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps slipped into the green zone of Baghdad last month to press Tehran’s hardline position over the terms of the current talks with American officials, it was claimed last week. Iraqi government sources say that Major-General Mohammed Ali Jafari, 50, travelled secretly from Tehran. Jafari appears to have passed through checkpoints on his way into the fortified enclave that contains the American embassy and Iraqi ministries, even though he is on Washington’s “most wanted” list. Last year Washington declared the guard a “foreign terrorist organisation” and imposed sanctions on it. One of the accusations that led to the designation was the charge that the Quds Force, a branch of the guard, was supplying rockets, mortars and roadside bombs known as explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) to Shi’ite militias in Iraq. In recent days there has been a sharp increase in the use of such bombs against American troops, and last weekend five Iranian speedboats were said to have harassed three American Navy ships, radioing a threat to blow them up. On his tour of the Middle East yesterday President George W Bush put Tehran on notice over its support for the insurgency in Iraq. “Iran’s role in fomenting violence has been exposed,” he said in Kuwait. Iran and the United States have held three rounds of talks over security in Iraq. They have made little progress so far but are considered a breakthrough because they are the first face-to-face encounters since 1980. At the insistence of the Americans, the talks between Ryan Crocker, the American ambassador to Iraq, and Hassan Kazemi Qomi, his Iranian counterpart, have been kept to the issue of security in Iraq. But Tehran wants them broadened to include the release of Iranian diplomats being held in Baghdad by the Americans. It is understood Jafari was sent to Baghdad to ensure that this happened. Video: The Hormuz clash
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (CBS) ― President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late." Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program. "Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech he delivered about mid-way through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact - an accord he said whose "time has come." Chiding U.S. allies who have withheld civil liberties, Bush said governments will never build trust by harassing or imprisoning candidates and protesters. But his rebuke was general, and he did not single out any U.S. partner in the region for oppressive practices. "You cannot expect people to believe in the promise of a better future when they are jailed for peacefully petitioning their government," Bush said. "And you cannot stand up a modern, confident nation when you do not allow people to voice their legitimate criticisms." Bush gave the speech on democracy in one of the few countries in the region - the Emirates - where democracy has not been a vital issue, but virtually ignored. In other countries in the region, especially Egypt, the fight between democracy activists and autocratic governments has been much more pointed and controversial. He called on the Palestinians to reject extremists, although he did not mention the Islamic radical group Hamas, which has gained control of the Gaza Strip. And he said the Iranian government in Tehran should make itself accountable to its people. "Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," Bush said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late." On Oct. 25, 2007, the Bush administration announced sweeping new sanctions against Iran — the harshest since the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979 - again charging that Tehran supports terrorism in the Middle East, exports missiles and is engaging in a nuclear build up. The measures target the Revolutionary Guard Corps and a number of banks and are designed, among other things, to punish Tehran for its support of terrorist organizations in Iraq and the Middle East.Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, at an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for $2,450 a night. Built at a cost of $3 billion, the hotel is a kilometer long from end to end and has a 1.3 kilometer white sand beach - every grain of it imported from Algeria, according to Steven Pike, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy here. Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes - white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women. Bush said advancing democracy and freedom is the core of his administration's foreign policy and critical to U.S. security. "The United States has no desire for territory. We seek our shared security in your liberty. We believe that stability can only come through a free and just Middle East where the extremists are marginalized," the president said. He noted democratic reform in Iraq. "You have made your choice for democracy and have stood firm," Bush said, speaking to the Iraqi people. "The terrorists and extremists cannot prevail." Making an equally direct appeal to the Palestinians, Bush said "The dignity and sovereignty that is your right is within your reach." In renewing his "Freedom Agenda" - Bush's grand ambition to seed democracy around the globe - he declared that "democracy is the only form of government that treats individuals with the dignity and equality that is their right." "We know from experience that democracy is the only system of government that yields lasting peace and stability," he added. Yet he was speaking about democracy in a deeply undemocratic country, the Emirates, where an elite of royal rulers makes virtually all the decisions. Large numbers of foreign resident workers have few legal or human rights, including no right to citizenship and no right to protest working conditions. Some human rights groups have accused the Emirates of tolerating virtual indentured servitude, where workers from poor countries like Sri Lanka are forced to work to pay off debts to employers, and have their passports seized so they can't leave. Officials in Abu Dhabi and the neighboring emirate of Dubai have said they are taking slow and gradual steps toward reform, both democratic and in labor rights. In the country's first-ever elections in late 2006, the government hand-picked a group of voters to cast ballots to choose members of a government advisory panel. But there is little clamor for elections in a wealthy country whose citizens are a privileged minority with access to free housing and lucrative government jobs. Many here say the galloping economy is evidence the government has done a good job.
MOSCOW, December 26/ 2007 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday that Moscow saw no economic necessity for Iran to continue its controversial program to enrich uranium. Iran's nuclear program has been at the center of an international dispute, with Western countries suspecting Tehran of covering up a weapons program and Iran saying it needs nuclear fuel for energy. "We are attempting to persuade the Iranians that the freezing of this program would be beneficial for Iran in as much as it would lead to immediate negotiations with the six [international negotiators], including the United States," Sergei Lavrov said. Russia, which is helping the Iranians build the country's first nuclear power plant in Bushehr, southern Iran, announced the start of nuclear fuel deliveries to the plant on December 17. If Iran were to agree to freeze its uranium enrichment program, then, said Lavrov, subsequent negotiations with the Iran Six - Russia, the U.S. China, Britain, France and Germany - would help lift, "once and for all, the suspicions that the Iranian nuclear program possesses any other kind of component than a peaceful one." The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), published on December 3, stated that Tehran had put a stop to weapons production in 2003, although it was continuing to enrich uranium. The report contradicted a previous U.S. intelligence assessment in 2005, which said that the Islamic Republic was actively pursuing a nuclear bomb. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Tuesday that Iran had turned down demands by the U.S. to halt its uranium enrichment program as a precondition for direct negotiations with Washington. Lavrov said Russia was fulfilling its obligations to build the $1-billion Bushehr nuclear power plant. "In the course of the project, certain problems have arisen. But these problems were of a technical and financial nature, not a political one. They have now been settled," he said. The completion of Bushehr, being built under a 1995 contract, came under threat in February when Russia cited payment delays. Iran denied any funding problems and accused Russia of deliberately stalling on the project in response to pressure from Western powers. Lavrov also commented that the Bushehr project was being carried out under the complete control of the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). "Our Iranian partners know that in the case of even the smallest deviation from the principle of 100% IAEA control, we will put a halt to our cooperation. But nothing of the sort is happening. The sides are fulfilling their obligations, and the project will be realized," he said. Lavrov added that the international community was unanimous on its ultimate goal with regard to Iran, which is to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and reach an agreement that would recognize Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. When asked if the U.S. had set itself the aim of achieving regime change in Iran, Lavrov answered that this was an "incidental goal." "We are being assured [by the U.S.] that they have no hidden goals. However, we would like to be convinced of this in practice. It is important to recognize the positive shift Iran has made in its cooperation with the IAEA." He also said that Russia would be firmly against any U.S. attempt to use the issue of the Iranian nuclear program to secure regime change in Iran.
Sunni, Shia March Together in Baghdad for Peace : Sunday, 23 December 2007
BAGHDAD — Approximately 1,000 Iraqi citizens, of both Shia and Sunni religions, joined together on the sectarian fault line in Rawaniyah, the Karkh District of Baghdad, to march with one another in what they called a “Peace March”, Dec. 19. It was an Iraqi initiative to ease sectarian tensions, solely driven by Iraqi Neighborhood Council (NAC) and District Advisory Council (DAC) leaders and Sheiks from both religious sects in the area, said Capt. Marcus Melton, commander of Pale Horse Troop, 4th Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).With Iraqi Army and Iraqi policemen maintaining the security on the streets and within the crowd during the event, they were able to successfully complete the march for united peace among all Iraqis. Drums beat, children ran, silly string littered the air and one man nearly wept. It was an exciting, yet emotional day for the Iraqis who participated. A local Sheik came over a loud speaker during the march to talk with his local comrades. He expressed his joy for their wanted peace, but nearly wept in the thought of those who have lost their lives in the battle for sectarian dominance. Many families, friends and sons have lost their lives during this time. “But dominance by one religious group is just a mindset, filed in the heads of the Iraqis”, said Melton, a native of Atlanta, Ga. This area is relatively calm today, but in January of this year violence raged through the streets, especially on Haifa.“The mindset that Shias stay on this side of the fence and Sunnis stay on the other carried over from the violence which once plagued the area,” Melton said. “There is only a street, Sheik Murah Street, which separates these men. To the west of this street is a Shia neighborhood. To the east is a Sunni neighborhood.“So it’s a sectarian line dividing the two,” he said. “They are working really hard within themselves to kind of get over this (sectarian mindset).”If they continue their quest for peace among all, Melton said the area will stabilize and move things forward in several areas. “If the neighborhoods come together and start really working together at the NAC and DAC levels without sectarian issues, the government will become much more efficient and more self-sustaining,” Melton said. “Same thing on the security front in terms of the Iraqi Army and the Iraqi Police being trusted by the community and being able to secure the community--both of which are positive things for us, which will allow us to transition out of a more direct role into more of an over-watch role.”Melton, who is in his second tour in Baghdad, said “I know they are moving forward and making progress. Certainly they have issues and problems and growing pains, but they have made a tremendous amount of progress.”One Iraqi boy, Omar, 11, said because of the continued peace in his homeland, he came to celebrate with his fellow Iraqis. Awass, with the Iraqi flag draped over his body, carried himself with much enthusiasm and excitement in his journey in Karkh.He said the flag—one he is very proud to display— describes his great country. “Red is for the blood shed. White is for our handshake. Green is for their land, and Black is for their oil,” he said.“We thank our God, our families and our friends that our neighborhood is safe and free of Violence,” an Iraqi man who participated in the march said. They marched for their peace, for their friends and for their brothers, said the Sheik. “Today we march for us being brothers forever.” (Story by Sgt. James P. Hunter, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs) In Other Recent Developments Here: BAGHDAD — Multi-National Division - Baghdad Soldiers arrested an alleged terrorist technical advisor and an improvised explosive device cell leader during two raids in the Doura neighborhoods in the Rashid District, Dec. 17. BAGHDAD — Coalition forces captured two suspected Special Groups leaders and detained three other suspects during operations to disrupt criminal element networks early this morning in the Al Mashru area, south of Baghdad, and the Kadhimiyah area, west of Baghdad.
Never Mind the Bomb, Beware of IslamofascismBy Amil Imani MichNews.com Dec 24, 2007
The National Intelligence Estimate regarding Iran’s bomb project has stirred a great deal of controversy. Some say that there is now reason to abandon the war posturing and start negotiating a live-and-let-live deal with the Mullahs, since they have “abandoned” their quest for the bomb. At least that is what the not-so-reliable report seems to imply. Others, with good reason, remain skeptical of both the validity of the report and the ever-cheating, conniving Mullahs. This controversy aside, the irrefutable fact is that the Jihadist belief of Islam itself poses existential danger to the world. Beliefs energize and direct actions. Beliefs are as indispensable as the air we breathe. Even an atheist is a believer, with his own system of disbelief. Not believing in anything is mental breakdown. There is something about humans that demands a belief. A belief can be anything or a combination of many things; it can be well-defined and even rigid, or a loosely put together hodge-podge with considerable latitude. It can be magnificent or the most abhorrent. But, it has to be there. Beliefs steer our vehicles in the journey of life. Please read more: Click Here
We speak with a reporter from the Army Times who gives an inside account of how an army unit committed mutiny and refused to carry out orders in Iraq. After an IED attack killed five more members of Charlie 1-26, members of 2nd Platoon gathered for a meeting and determined they could no longer function professionally. Several platoon members were afraid their anger could set loose a massacre.
By : Kelly Kennedy, medical reporter for Army Times. She is the author of the new four-part series Blood Brothers. 21 / 12 / 2007
JUAN GONZALEZ: In what has been described as one of the most remarkable stories of the entire Iraq war, a reporter from the Army Times has given perhaps the first inside account of how an Army unit committed mutiny and refused to carry out orders in Iraq.The incident occurred in Adhamiya, a district in northeastern Baghdad, where soldiers in the 2nd Platoon, Charlie Company, were stationed. The 2nd Platoon had lost many men since deploying to Iraq eleven months before. After an IED attack killed five more members of Charlie 1-26, members of 2nd Platoon gathered for a meeting and determined they could no longer function professionally. Several platoon members were afraid their anger could set loose a massacre. They decided to stage a revolt against their commanders that they viewed as a life-or-death act of defiance. READ THE FULL STORY HERE : http://tinyurl.com/yvh9y2
2007-12-22 So now the US’ official point of view is that Iran has not been striving for a nuclear arsenal over the past four years. That’s quite a break from the Administration’s established creed. After a long time of heated rhetoric from Mr Bush, even making intimations of war over the past months, suddenly the official position is that the possible nuclear threat from Iran is far, far less than expected. Has the US intelligence community, in its most recent National Intelligence Estimate , suddenly regained some of its objectivity? Or is the Bush Administration suddenly striving for better relations with Iran? READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE : http://www.unobserver.com/layout5.php?id=4205&blz=1
LATEST NEWS 24 Th Dec 2007
One moment, US President George W Bush was warning of the danger of World War III because of Iran's nuclear programme. In the next, peace was breaking out. It's been a strange year for Iran. By Jon Leyne Read the Article
Posted 24/12/2007 @ 11:48:23 GMTThe European View on Iran: Fallout from the New U.S. Intelligence EstimateOn December 13, 2007, Neil Crompton, Hans-Peter Hinrichsen, and Nicholas Roche addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Crompton is a political counselor at the British embassy who served until recently as Iran coordinator and head of the Iraq Policy Unit at the British Foreign Office. Dr. Hinrichsen, first secretary for political affairs at the German embassy, has long worked on non-proliferation issues. Mr. Roche is a counselor at the French embassy who has focused extensively on the Iranian nonproliferation file. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks. more By The Washington Institute for Near East Policy Posted 24/12/2007 @ 11:42:23 GMTThe Clock Ticks: Sanction Iran Now The latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran's nuclear intentions and capabilities has been the subject of much analysis, most of which has been off point. The new estimate opens with the startling judgment that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003, which has led some to conclude sanctions are no longer necessary. They are. Indeed, the estimate's more significant conclusion is that the most likely tool to successfully alter Iran's nuclear calculus is targeted political and economic pressure, not military action. more By Financial Times Deutschland Posted 24/12/2007 @ 11:39:55 GMTAmbassador Skeptical of Iran's Plan for IraqBAGHDAD -- The U.S. ambassador expressed wariness Sunday about Iranian intentions in Iraq, saying that even if Iran-backed militias had decreased activities here, he was not yet convinced the Islamic state was committed to helping stabilize Iraq. more By Los Angeles Times Posted 24/12/2007 @ 10:51:16 GMTThe Ayatollah Khomeini LegacyOver the last few months the Iranian political system has raged over the publication of a series of memoirs by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Iran's former president, who currently serves as chairman of the regime's Assembly of Experts and of the Expediency Council of Iran. more By The Jerusalem Post Posted 24/12/2007 @ 11:24:23 GMTAppeasement Yesterday and Appeasement TodayUntil a few days ago, Iran's nuclear ambitions appeared destined to become the hottest issue in the current American presidential campaign. A consensus, cutting across partisan divides, appeared to be taking shape that the Islamic Republic should be confronted forcefully, contained, and in time, forced to scale down its ambitions. more By Asharq Alawsat Posted 24/12/2007 @ 10:48:25 GMTWhy Not Engage Iranian Pragmatists?BERLIN -- The recent comprehensive assessment by America's spy agencies about Iran's nuclear program and ambitions — the "National Intelligence Estimate" — has opened the door to fresh strategic discussions among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany. Such a strategic reconsideration is probably most necessary for those in the Bush administration (and a few elsewhere), who until recently have been prophets of imminent danger. more By The Japan Times Posted 24/12/2007 @ 10:26:16 GMTIran to Seek Bids for 19 Atomic Power PlantsTEHRAN -- Iran will soon announce an international tender for building 19 nuclear power plants, an MP was quoted as saying, a week after Russia said it had begun fuel deliveries to the Islamic state's first such facility. more By Reuters
Dead estimated between 30 and 70. "The attack is among the deadliest in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion," reports MSNBC. "Taliban bombers have killed regional governors in the past, but never have militants killed so many high-ranking officials in one attack."
A letter dispatched to French police officials late last winter -- long before the presidential election but somehow kept secret -- revealed that Sarkozy was recruited as an Israeli spy. The French police is currently investigating documents concerning Sarkozy's alleged espionage activities on behalf of Mossad, which Le Figaro claims dated as far back as 1983.
"Barrington 'Barry' Godfrey of Houston tried to get mega-contractor KBR to quit overcharging the government for thousands of troops he said the company never fed. He alleges he was forced out for raising the issue, and that the Justice Department tried unsuccessfully to keep his allegations secret and then refused to join him in a whistleblower suit."igaro claims dated as far back as 1983.
November 02, 2007 The Washington Post Ann Scott Tyson
Iran may be curtailing the flow into Iraq of lethal armor-piercing projectiles that have become a major killer of U.S. troops, although more time is needed to confirm the trend, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and senior military officials said yesterday. The number of explosively formed projectiles (EFPs) that have been detonated or found in Iraq has dropped by nearly half in recent months, from a peak of 99 in July to 53 last month, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, the commander in charge of day-to-day military operations in Iraq, said yesterday in a videoconference with Pentagon reporters. Violence in Iraq has declined by several measures over the past four months, according to U.S. military data, a development that Gates hailed as a success. But in response to a question during a separate Pentagon briefing, he stopped short of saying the United States is "winning" in Iraq. "Those end up being loaded words," Gates said. "We have been very successful. We need to continue being successful." Read the full article here : http://tinyurl.com/yvdu6o
Gates Says Iran Gave Assurances on Explosives November 02, 2007 The New York Times Thom Shanker
WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates indicated Thursday that Iran had told the Baghdad government that it would work to stem the flow of high-powered explosives into Iraq, though he also questioned the credibility of the pledge. “It is my understanding that they have provided such assurances,” Mr. Gates said during a Pentagon news conference. “I don’t know whether to believe them. I’ll wait and see.” Those comments came the same day the No. 2 American commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, said that the number of lethal roadside bombs suspected to have origins in Iran had declined in recent months. General Odierno, in a video news conference from his headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon, said it was premature to declare that the decrease in armor-piercing roadside bombs, called explosively formed penetrators, or E.F.P.’s, meant Iran had taken steps to halt their flow into Iraq. Mr. Gates said that statistics on violence in Iraq provided mounting evidence that the security situation was improving, though he acknowledged that political progress was slow at the national level of the Iraqi government. “We have certainly been successful in significantly improving the security situation in Iraq, and I would say that what we need to do is continue this effort and ensure that the economic reconstruction and development follows,” Mr. Gates said. “We clearly have more work to do with the police, as do the Iraqis, and we still need to get some of this basic legislation.” Asked whether he would declare that the United States was now winning the war in Iraq, Mr. Gates responded: “I think those end up being loaded words. I think we have been very successful. We need to continue being successful.” The United States military contends that E.F.P. components are made in Iran and supplied to Shiite militias in Iraq. Iran denies that it is involved in shipping weapons to the militias. But Mr. Gates said he believed that leaders of the Quds force, an elite element of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, knew about the weapons smuggling, adding that he also believed that top levels of the Iranian government were “probably” aware of it, too. “I haven’t seen anything that is definitive along those lines,” Mr. Gates said. “My guess is that the highest levels are aware.” In describing the security situation in Iraq to reporters at the Pentagon, General Odierno said the number of E.F.P.’s found across the country in the past three months was down sharply. In October, there were 53 E.F.P. incidents in Iraq, according to General Odierno, with 30 attacks involving the weapons and 23 others in which E.F.P.’s were found before they detonated. He compared those figures with those of July, when there were 99 E.F.P. incidents over all; August, when there were 78; and September, 52. The current monthly level is still above the monthly levels of the first quarter of the year, he added. “Although we still have, in my mind, way too many,” General Odierno said of the E.F.P.’s, “in the last few months that has been on a downward trend.”
Forces Capture Suspected al Qaeda Commander, Detain 11 Others in Iraq WASHINGTON - Coalition forces captured a wanted individual and detained 11 others today during an operation in support of ongoing efforts to stabilize the region.Oct 31, 2007 Afghan, Coalition Forces Detain Six, Uncover Weapons Cache WASHINGTON - Afghan and coalition forces detained six suspected insurgents during an operation in Kandahar City, Afghanistan, early this morning.Oct 31, 2007 Job No. 1 in Northern Iraq: Keep al Qaeda on Ropes WASHINGTON - Keeping al Qaeda "on the ropes" is job No. 1 for the 1st Armored Division and Multinational Division North, the organization's commander said today.Oct 30, 2007 Coalition Troops Detain 11 Suspects in Iraq Operations WASHINGTON - Coalition forces detained 11 suspects today during operations to disrupt al Qaeda networks in central Iraq.Oct 30, 2007 Security Forces, Citizens Decrease Violence in Iraq WASHINGTON - Coalition and Iraqi security forces continue to make progress against al Qaeda and other criminal elements, thanks in large part to the efforts of concerned citizens throughout the country, a senior military official in Baghdad said during a briefing today.Oct 29, 2007 Iraq: The Folly of Deifying Democracy Selwyn Duke -- We hear lots of criticism of the Iraq venture from the left, right and center. There is everything from silly notions about presidential prevarication to how “it is only about oil” to one-world government conspiracy theories. Yet, while military action can rise from policy objectives, it’s often ignored that policy objectives tend to rise from the time’s prevailing philosophy. And the truth is that insofar as the war in Iraq has been misguided, the blame can be laid at the feet of the spirit our age.Oct 30, 2007
The alleged extortion attempt began on August 2 when a man telephoned the royal’s office. The caller identified himself only by his first name. He said he was aware that another man who worked on the royal’s staff had in his possession an envelope containing cocaine. The caller suggested the envelope was embossed with the royal’s personal insignia. The caller then claimed he had a video tape that showed the royal aide giving someone oral sex. He indicated that the person was the royal. The caller asked for the royal to call him and left a mobile phone number.
KABUL, Afghanistan: U.S.-led coalition forces killed about 80 Taliban fighters during a six-hour battle outside a Taliban-controlled town in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a series of increasingly bloody engagements in the region, officials said Sunday. The battle near Musa Qala in Helmand province — the world's largest poppy growing region — is at least the fifth major fight in the area since Sept. 1. The five battles have killed more than 250 Taliban fighters, a possible sign that U.S. or British forces could be trying to wrest the area back from militants. Full article : http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/10/28/asia/AS-GEN-Afghan-Violence.php?WT.mc_id=rssfrontpage
Rockets fired at a U.S. base southeast of Baghdad were manufactured in Iran, showing again that country’s continued logistical support for insurgents inside Iraq, U.S. military officials said on Saturday.Nobody was injured in the October 23rd attack on Combat Outpost Cashe, but one U.S. vehicle was damaged, officials said.According to the military, the 107mm rocket was made in Iran sometime in March. Troops investigating the launch site seized six rocket rails – used to aim and launch the rockets, an unfired rocket and a timing device.The seized rocket is the 40th Iranian manufactured rocket that soldiers have captured in the last four months, the military said.
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